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The Atlanta Hawks escaped with a 116-113 road win over the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals in the 2021 NBA Playoffs.
The upstart team by coach Nate McMillan took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series behind a spectacular performance by Trae Young, who scored 48 points and disrupted the Milwaukee Bucks defense the entire night.
Wednesday's victory was the third straight playoff series in which the Atlanta Hawks won the opening game, and the Milwaukee Bucks are the third team that didn’t seem to know what to expect from them. Giannis Antetokounmpo had his way in the paint, scoring 34 points and keeping his team in the game in the fourth quarter.
But Young and John Collins, who had 23 points and 15 rebounds, would make the crucial plays for the Atlanta Hawks down the stretch to give their team the win, taking home court advantage away from the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Milwaukee Bucks can’t stop Trae Young but they rule the paint
After the Milwaukee Bucks started off the scoring with a 3-pointer by Brook Lopez, both teams went ice-cold from beyond the arc. The Bucks, in particular, would go 1-for-8 early in the game. The Hawks followed suit, shooting 0-for-9 in a rough start for the visitors.
At the 6:33 mark, the Atlanta Hawks called a timeout with the Milwaukee Bucks ahead, 13-10. Young was virtually the only one who could score with eight of the Hawks' first 10 points so far. He would finish the period with 12 in a preview of what’s to come the rest of the way.
But it was the Milwaukee Bucks who led after one quarter, 28-25.
By the second quarter, the Milwaukee Bucks continued to rule the shaded area as 32 of their 38 points had come in the paint at that point. The Bucks took 20 shots and scored on 17 of them.
But Young stayed hot and got his teammates more involved. He hit back-to-back threes before finding an open Kevin Huerter with a behind-the-back pass for another 3-pointer to give the Atlanta Hawks the lead, 46-45, with 4:06 left before halftime.
Holiday was making shot after shot as well, attacking his defender and keeping the Atlanta Hawks at bay.
By halftime, it was the Milwaukee Bucks who were still ahead, 59-54 with Antetokounmpo and Holiday combining for 30 points. But Young had 25 points all by himself, with Kevin Huerter the next best scorer with just nine points.
Trae Young toys around with Milwaukee Bucks; Atlanta Hawks outhustle opponent
The third quarter was where the Atlanta Hawks finally got everyone involved, with Collins in particular crashing the boards and soaring high for dunks. He and Young would be involved in one of the most entertaining plays of the entire postseason.
The Hawks guard would pass the ball off the glass to his teammate who would slam it home with two hands. That play would give Atlanta a 77-73 lead with 4:23 left in the period.
Young would outdo Collins a few plays later when he escaped Holiday and did a shimmy before sinking a 3-pointer at the 2:26 mark of the quarter.
That would give the Atlanta Hawks their biggest lead of the night at eight points, 86-78.
The Hawks would score 34-26 in the third to take an 88-85 lead against the Milwaukee Bucks heading into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the Milwaukee Bucks caught up after Antetokounmpo entered the ball game.
With less than six minutes remaining, the Greek Freak received a lob pass from Khris Middleton for the dunk. He hit a short jumper on their next possession, then a layup on a fastbreak plus a foul.
Antetokounmpo grabbed the long rebound off his missed free throw and Holiday drained a three to give the Milwaukee Bucks a seven-point lead,105-98 with 4:18 to go.
But the Atlanta Hawks countered with a putback slam by Collins and an and-1 by Trae Young to cut the deficit to just two with 3:26 remaining. After a couple of plays where the teams exchanged baskets, the Hawks took the lead on a follow-up dunk by Clint Capela, 111-110 with 29.8 left in the game.
Young later converted four free throws at the end to seal the deal for the Atlanta Hawks.
Final Score: Atlanta Hawks 116-113 Milwaukee Bucks
Atlanta Hawks’ Top Performers
- Trae Young 48p, 11a, 7r, 6TO, 17-of-34 FG
- John Collins 23p, 15r, 11-of-16 FG
- Kevin Huerter 13p, 2r
Milwaukee Bucks' Top Performers
- Giannis Antetokounmpo 34p, 12r, 9a, 2s, 2b, 14-of-25 FG
- Jrue Holiday 33p, 4r, 10a, 2s, 1b, 14-of-25 FG
- Khris Middleton 15p, 6-of-23 FG, 0-for-9 3PT
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